1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to railway transportation systems and equipment, and more particularly to an improved railway transportation system for handling cargo on an express basis by use of unit trains adapted to automatically unload and load containerized freight onto the individual cars of the unit train from unloading and loading stations in compatible terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While numerous improvements in materials, equipment design, communications, and other factors, coupled with a rapidly expanding demand, have resulted in rapid expansion and vast improvement in other forms of transportation in recent years, this has generally not been true of railroad systems, particularly railroad systems within the United States. Indeed, during the period of rapid growth of, for example, highway truck freight transportation, American railroads have experienced a loss of the bulk of their passenger business which, coupled with changes in the freight and bulk material shipping business, has significantly affected the profitability of the rail business. These dramatic changes have resulted in bankruptcy, or near backruptcy of many of the nation's major railroads, while others have found it necessary to restrict expenditures for capital equipment and maintenance, and to continuously struggle to maintain a solid financial position. As a result, railroad systems generally, and American railroad systems in particular, have remained essentially unchanged for many years during which time the trucking industry has gradually taken a large portion of their freight volume.
The flexibility of the trucking industry has contributed to the dilemma of the railroads in that industrial and commercial expansion has not been restricted to accessibility of rail transportation. Rather, improved highway systems have encouraged the movement of such industry to suburban locations and the attendant advantages such as low land cost, personnel availability, and reduced traffic congestion. Other factors, many of which are directly under the control of the rapidly expanding trucking industry and which have contributed to the problems of the rail industry have included new innovative freight terminal handling equipment and methods, modern systems of highways which has allowed over-the-road shipment to be more cost competitive, reduced damage by truck shipment, better, more personalized service by truck, and others.
The fact that railway systems, particularly in the United States, have developed as integrated systems consisting of a number of interconnecting, independently owned and operated systems has contributed to a large extent in the failure of the industry to develop and adopt the radically new equipment and methods of operation necessary to remain a vehicle, competitive transportation system. Individual improvements which might have slowed the decline of the rail system were difficult to adopt due to the necessity for standardization, coupled with the sheer cost of system-wide changes.